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May282010

Access: A generalized term referring to the physical means (such as POTS line or T1 line) through which a carrier company provides telecommunications services to a customer.

Access Cost: The one-time installation charges plus the recurring costs for access to one or more network services, such as Internet access.

ACK: A SIP method to acknowledge the final response to an invite message listed in RFC 25433.

Add-on Charges: Monthly charges beyond access costs. Add-on charges are mandated by the government and administered by the carrier. These types of add-on charges are also referred to as regulatory fees.

Analog: A method of representing voice signals through a variation in the amplitude, frequency, or phase of an electrical signal. POTS telephone lines originally used (and in many areas continue to use) analog transmission to gain access to the public telephone network.

ANI (automated number identifier): A fancy was of referring to your telephone number.

ANI II (also called ANI Info Digits): Two-digit numbers that identify the type of phone origination on a call.

Area Code: A three-digit code that represents a specific geographic calling area in North America. The area code is dialed first in the sequence of calling any telephone number. Some areas, depending on population size, do not require an area code for calls made within the local regional calling area.

Area Code Split: The division of a geographic area previously serviced by a single area code due to an increased demand in the region for new phone numbers. The region covered by the old area code can be split, with half of the territory given to the new area code, or the new area code can be deployed in the same territory as an overlay.

Asterisk: Very popular open source software allowing a standard Linux server to be converted into a feature rich telephone system, supporting both analog and VoIP calling.

Asymmetric transmission: When the upstream and downstream transmission rates are different; for example, the upload rate may be 256 Kbps and the download rate 1.536 Mbps. Most consumer broadband networks use asymmetric transmission.

B channel: A bandwidth unit employed by the integrated services digital network (ISDN). An ISDN B channel delivers 64 Kbps of digital bandwidth over the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Bandwidth: A measure of the amount of data that can be transmitted during a set period of time. In most cases, the terms bandwidth and speed are used synonymously. The bandwidth of a communications channel is often expressed in Kbps (kilobits per second) or Mbps (megabits per second).

Bandwidth Allocation: Digital bandwidth can be subdivided and allocated based on channels. A T1 line with a bandwidth of 1.536 Mbps can allocate eight 64 Kbps channels to voice calls, eight channels to the data network, and eight channels to a videoconferencing. All 24 channels can be used in a dynamic allocation pool.

BRI (Basic Rate Interface): Consumer-grade level of ISDN service. BRI consists of two B channels of 64 Kbps per channel. The two channels can be used in aggregate, or each channel can be dedicated to a specific application. A BRI also includes a D channel, which is a 16 Kbps channel used strictly by the carrier to manage services over the BRI line.

Broadband: In general usage, a communications channel capable of transmission speeds equal to or greater than 256 Kbps. There is not currently a clear definition on the maximum speed for broadband. It also describes two popular services (DSL and cable modem) that connect consumers and small businesses to the Internet.

BTN (Billing Telephone Number): Phone number linked to a phone service acting as either a billing reference point or main account number. Individual phone lines may all be referenced by a local phone carrier to a single BTN as well as being used to establish a geographic point of reference for outbound calls over dedicated circuits.

BYE: The standard SIP method sent to terminate a call after the bi-directional media stream is established on a call. It is similar to the disconnect notification in an analog call and is defined in RFC 2543.

Cable Modem: Popular form of broadband service that runs over the consumer’s cable television network transport line to offer access to the Internet along with digital phone service.

Calling Footprint: Identifies the local phone carriers in the cities, states and countries where your calls terminate on average over the course of a month.

CDR (Call Detail Record): Listing of an individual phone call with your invoice containing the origination phone number, termination phone number, date, time and cost for the call.

Call Control: A PSTN management technology that establishes a connection, keeps the call up, and tears the call down when the parties hang up. Call control provides an automated means to track and manage call-related information for billing and maintenance.

Call Example: Detailed information of a call that is required to open a trouble ticket on a call completion or quality issue. Call example must be less the 24 hours old and contain a least the origination number, termination number, date and time of the call and a legitimate call treatment to warrant opening a trouble ticket.

Calling Feature: Additional uses or applications of the telephone, telephone line, or network that carries the telephone call; voice mail, call forwarding, and call transfer are examples of traditional calling features.

Call Plan: Software within your phone system designed to route calls and provides features such as call queuing, voicemail and conference calls.

Call Queue: A call plan feature allowing multiple calls to be placed on hold before being connected to an extension. Call queue can hold calls until an operator or extensions become available or provide the caller with the option to go directly to voice mail.

Call Treatment: The way in which a call is completed. Commonly used when reporting issues on a call, whereby the call treatment may include static, echo, clipping, or call failure to a recording or fast busy.

CANCEL: SIP method used as a direct command to the cancellation of a call session; only option for tearing down a SIP call prior to receiving a 200 OK response to the initial INVITE message from the far end.

Carrier: The company responsible for the transport lines used to provide communications services. Carriers lease transport lines to customers and often provide the services that operate over those lines, such as voice, data, and video transmission.

CIC (Carrier Identification Code): Three numbers that identify the networks of a carrier. This is the main method that local phone carriers identify the long distance carrier to which your calls are delivered.

Carrier Services Infrastructure (CSI): A subset of five network types available in the telecommunications domain. Network transport lines for a particular CSI are available by leasing through carriers.

Channelization: The capacity for subdividing and allocating bandwidth channels in a dedicated transport line. For example, a DS3 transport line provides 672 channels of 64 Kbps each. Channelization allows those channels to be independently utilized for different communication purposes.

Class 5 Switch: The switching hardware used by local phone carriers that provide local phone services such as dial tone, 911 and 411 services as well as access to toll-free numbers and long-distance carriers.

Class 4 Switch: The switching hardware used by long-distance carriers geared toward finding the local carrier owning a dialed number. They differ from class 5 switches and cannot provide local carrier features.

Clipping: A call treatment characterized by the loss of a portion of the audio transmission of a traditional phone call caused by an under-amplification of the call signal in a traditional phone call and is more common in VoIP.

CO (Central Office): A building that contains a class 5 switch and provides local services to business and residence in the surrounding area.

CODEC: A Coder-Decoder algorithms for packaging and un-packaging the voice portions of a VoIP call so it can be transmitted over an IP network. Codec’s also allow the call different levels of compression.

Comfort Noise: Soft static or white noise that you hear during a call when nobody is speaking.

COS (Class of Service): An Ethernet frame field that can be populated with a value of 0 to 7, representing the priority of the data.

CPN (Called Party Number): The number processed in the call stream of a phone call used to display in the Caller ID window of the phone dialed.

CPS (Calls per Second): Identifies the rate at which calls are sent; this is used to regulate the flow of VoIP calls from a customer’s server to the Session Controller Board of their carrier.

D channel: A channel used by ISDN transport services. A BRI includes a 16-Kbps D channel, and a PRI includes a 64-Kbps D channel. These channels are used strictly by the carriers to manage services over the customer’s ISDN line.

Dead Air: A call treatment whereby no ringing or other sounds are heard after dialing a phone number. Dead air usually persists for 30 – 40 seconds before reverting to a fast busy or the call disconnects.

Dedicated access: A classification of access using a private network transport (T1, T3, or OC3 line) through; which a carrier provides ultra-high bandwidth telecommunications services to an individual customer.

Dedicated network: A network dedicated to a single customer and implemented through the use of dedicated access lines.

Delay: The total time it takes for a signal to travel from the source to the destination.

DMARC (Demarcation Point): The point at which the telephone company network ends and connects with the wiring at the customers or end-users premises.

Dial Around Code: The seven digit number consisting of “1010” and the three-digit Carrier Identification Code identifying a long-distance carrier.

Dial Plan: The software in your phone system designed in a logical and orderly piece manner to provide such features as call queuing, voice mail and conference calls.

DID (Direct Inward Dial): A phone number that can only receive inbound calls and is incapable of dialing outbound.

Digital: Fast efficient method of representing voice signals through high and low pulses. Since the inception of digital networking, many newer, faster, and more precise methods of networking have become available.

Digital Service: The initial form of the digital service CSI through which the first digital, private, dedicated transport lines (such as DS1 and DS3 lines) were installed beginning in 1964.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL): A popular form of broadband service which runs over a POTS line to provide Internet access. In most cases, DSL service requires the consumer to have an existing POTS line service.

Digital Telephony: Started first as a method for carriers to aggregate and transport POTS telephone calls on the carrier’s network using DS-type transport lines. This same technology would later be redeveloped into privately owned telephone systems (PBX) that would be owned and operated by customers.

DNC List (Do Not Call): A database of phone numbers compiled by residential customers who wish to be removed from the call list of telemarketers.

DNS (Domain Name System): A reference model used to link Web site URL’s to their Public IP addresses.

Dropped Call: Phone call that is disconnected before either person on the call intended or physically hung up.

DS0: One 64-Kbps channel of digital bandwidth on a DS network used to facilitate a single phone call.

DS1: The standard for 24 DS0 channels having an aggregate bandwidth of 1.536 Mbps. A DS1 line is also known as a T1 line.

DS3: The standard for 672 DS0 channels having an aggregate bandwidth of45 Mbps. A DS3 line is also known as a T3 line.

DSL: Digital subscriber line. A popular form of broadband service which runs over a POTS line to provide Internet access, DSL service requires the consumer to have an existing POTS line service.

DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency): Tone based signaling scheme which combines two of a set of standard frequencies. DTMF signaling is also known as “touch tone” are sounds you hear when pressing a phone key pad.

Echo: Reverberation caused by over amplification of signal strength during the transmission of a call. More common on calls traveling longer distance as the signal requires more modifications.

Echo Cancellers: Reverberation caused by over amplification of signal strength during the transmission of a call. More common on calls traveling longer distance as the signal requires more modifications.

E&M (Ear & Mouth): Old bi-directional protocol used in traditional telephony whereby each end of the call interacts to set up and tear down every call.

Encapsulation: A process whereby network traffic (data, voice, or video) is formatted according to the requirements of the network protocol (Ethernet or TCP/IP) being used to transport the traffic. The LAN encapsulates traffic into MAC frames. The WAN encapsulates traffic into packets.

Encryption: A process that secures network traffic from unauthorized access. By using secure procedures or secure software keys known only to authorized users, the encrypted network traffic can be accessed.

Ethernet: The oldest and most popular protocol used for establishing data networks. Ethernet is used in more than 98 percent of corporate America for LAN networking. Ethernet is increasingly being used as a MAN backbone standard.

ETR (Estimated Time to Repair): The projected timeline to resolution of a trouble issue.

Extensibility: An attribute of networks that allows them to be enlarged or enhanced without the need to change basic network characteristics.

Fast Busy Signal: Busy signal twice as fast as a normal busy signal that normally identifies a network outage and is sometimes replaced with a recording “all circuits are busy”.

Feature: Additional uses or applications of the telephone, the telephone line, or the network that carries the telephone call. Voice mail, call forwarding, and call transfer are examples of traditional calling features.

Feature Cost: Charges associated with the implementation of calling features. In traditional POTS telephony, calling features have a cost associated with them, typically in the form of additional monthly charges.

Fiber Cut: The unintentional severing of a section of fiber optic cable that usually results in call failures both in and out of an area serviced by the connection

Fiber Optic: Physical cable medium used in most networks for outside segments of the network’s physical layer.

Firewall: Software or hardware that limits access to a data network. Some firewall systems also provide network management functions.

FOC (Firm Order Commitment): A generic term for any document that stipulates the date by which a provisioning order is committed to be completed.

FEC (Forward Error Correction): A method of preventing and qualifying data transmissions by sending additional redundant data to provide guidelines to replace any data lost during the transmission.

Frame Relay: A standardized wide area networking technology that specifies the physical and logical link layers of digital telecommunications channels using a packet switching methodology. Each end-user gets a private line (or leased line) to a frame-relay node. The frame-relay network handles the transmission over a frequently-changing path transparent to all end-users.

FXO Port (Foreign Exchange Office): Ports are installed in your phone system and face your local phone carrier. They receive both power and incoming calls through the cabling that terminates at the wall jack.

FXS Port (Foreign Exchange Station): Ports are installed in your phone system and face the analog phones, fax machines and other devices within your office or LAN.

Gateway: A network device used to provide access between different types of networks. For instance, a gateway may provide access into an external network such as the PSTN, the Internet, or a private WAN. A PSTN gateway has a LAN interface on the inside and a PRI access transport line on the outside. It translates IP telephony frames from the LAN into circuit-switched POTS traffic for the PSTN and vice versa.

Ground Start: A traditional telephone protocol used to establish calls whereby the customer’s hardware dictates that is sending a call, as opposed to asking the carrier if it is ready to receive one.

H.323: One of the oldest set of VoIP guidelines designed by the International Telecommunications Union working group that supports the transmission of voice and video.

Hard Phone: A VoIP-enabled telephone that has an RJ-45 LAN interface port to connect it to the Ethernet LAN. VoIP telephones today come in all shapes and sizes.

HFC (Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial): The CSI that supports cable television, broadband services, and VoIP telephony through cable modem and POTS telephony through a POTS telephone and adapter.

Hop: On the Internet, a hop represents a single, intermediary step in the path of a network transmission from the source to the destination.

ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier):.Introduced with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. ILEC is intended to identify the carrier who owns the traditional, regulated cabling infrastructure in any given LATA.

Indeterminate Jurisdiction (IJ): A call classification characterized by the geographic location of at least one end of the call being hidden or masked.

In-state Toll: One of four traditional regulated toll carrier service categories, also known as intrastate.

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN): A group of digital transport services that use the circuit-switched PSTN. ISDN transports are capable of integrating data, voice, and video applications, but run slower than other transports available today.

Inter Exchange Carrier (IXC): Dominated the long-distance carrier services marketplace before the implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

International: One of four traditional regulated toll carrier service categories. Considered to be the most highly regulated of all toll services.

Internet Service Provider (ISP): A company that provides Internet access to consumers and companies; larger and more versatile ISPs offer Internet access using a variety of network transport options.

Interstate Toll: One of four traditional regulated toll carrier service categories, also known as long-distance services, and VoIP telephony through cable modem and through a POTS telephone with an adapter.

Intra Lata Toll: One of four traditional regulated toll carrier service categories, also known as local toll. Refers to calls in which the caller and receiver are in the same local access and transport area (LATA).

Intranet: A private network based on the same protocols used on the larger public Internet. Those outside the network can gain access to a corporate intranet through a firewall or gateway, if the network is configured to allow such access.

Intrastate Toll: One of four traditional regulated toll carrier service categories, also known as in-state toll.

Internet Protocol (IP):. One of two major protocols used in the TCP/IP family of protocols. The IP protocol is one of the protocols used to implement the Internet.

IP Address: An address comprised of four numbers, each ranging from 0 to 255, and normally expressed with each number separated by a period (such as 192.168.2.100). IP addresses are used to route network traffic from sender to receiver. The IP address is a major component field of a VoIP packet and is used to map the VoIP telephone call to a specific telephone number. In a VoIP telephony call, both source and destination (caller and receiver) addresses are used to establish and maintain the VoIP call.

IP Centrex: A managed VoIP telephony service similar in concept to the traditional Centrex model.

IP Soft Phone: Software that enables a computer to function as a VoIP telephone, including an on-screen dialing pad for point-and-click dialing.

IP Telephony (IPT): A technology that allows traditional voice calls to be carried as data over a local area network. IPT is technically VoIP on a LAN (and VoIP is IPT outside the LAN).

Inside Wiring: Customer owned communications transmission line that can be metallic (copper) or optical fiber installed within or between buildings. All cabling that extends beyond the demarcation point.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR): Complex telephone systems allowing incoming callers to reach their desired extension by responding to questions by either pressing digits on the phone keypad or speaking key words.

JBIG: A compression technique for the data used in a fax transmission.

JIP: The variations in transmission latency that can cause packet loss and degrade call quality in VoIP calls, also sometimes called delay variation.

Jitter: The variations in transmission latency that can cause packet loss and degrade call quality in VoIP calls, also sometimes called delay variation.

Jitter Buffer: A device installed on a LAN that collects the individual VoIP packets, arrange them in sequence and then send them out in uniform cadence.

Key Telephone System: An internal basic phone system typically used by smaller companies that may provide voicemail and other calling features while allowing you to dial through it without the need of pressing “9”.

LAN (Local Area Network):. A data network limited to a small geographic area. A LAN can be as small as a couple of devices connected on the same network or as large as a campus-wide installation with numerous buildings and thousands of addressable devices on the same network.

Last Mile: The physical line installed by the carrier to support the connection between the customer’s premise and the carrier’s point-of-presence. The local loop, sometimes referred to as the local loop, is used to enable access to one or more networks and carrier services.

LATA (Local Access Transport Area): A geographically defined region that may include hundreds of miles of territory in which a local phone carrier can independently complete a phone call.

LCR (Least Cost Routing): The rates for a multitude of carriers to which a company has access are programmed into a database enabling the phone system to route calls over the carrier with least expensive rate.

Line: A physical channel (includes wireless channels) or aggregate of contiguous channels that supports the transmission of electrical, optical, or telemetric data, voice, or video bit-level signaling.

Line Cost: The initial start-up installation charges, plus the recurring costs, for a network transport line to connect the customer’s premise to the carrier’s point-of-presence.

LOA (Letter of Authorization): A signed document authorizing a phone company to either change the long-distance carrier

Local Calling Area: A regulated calling area usually covering the immediate surrounding geographical area; distinguishes local calling from all four toll related calling service categories.

Local Loop: The physical link or circuit that connects from the demarcation point of the customer premises to the edge of the carrier or telecommunications service provider’s network.

Local Toll: One of four traditional regulated toll carrier service categories, also known as intra-lata toll. Refers to calls in which the caller and receiver are in the same local access and transport area (LATA).

Long Distance: One of four traditional regulated toll carrier service categories, also known as interstate toll.

MAN: (Metropolitan Area Network): A type of network designed to cover a large geographical area.

Media Access Control: MAC. The part of the network interface that controls physical access to the LAN through the MAC address.

Monthly Recurring Cost (MRC): In the regulated communications industry, charges that are assessed monthly for access, calling features, tolls, and regulatory fees.

MOS (Mean Opinion Score): A rating structure used in telecom to identify the overall quality of a phone call. The rating is between 1 and 5; 1 the lowest rating and 5 being the best rating.

MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching): MPLS is a highly scalable, protocol agnostic, data-carrying mechanism In an MPLS network, data packets are assigned labels. Packet-forwarding decisions are made solely on the contents of this label, without the need to examine the packet itself. This allows one to create end-to-end circuits across any type of transport medium, using any protocol.

Network Feature: Calling features provided in a VoIP network. For example, presence, Web surfing, and v-email are network features.

Network Interface Card: Provides the network device, such as a computer or a VoIP telephone, with its MAC address and the means for connecting to the LAN.

Network Management System (NMS): Provides bit-level metrics and statistics on network utilization, error rates, bottlenecks, security breeches, frame faults, and faulty packets.

NOC (Network Operations Center): The main building or center where the trouble shooting hardware and technicians are located for a long-distance, local or VoIP telecommunications carrier.

Network Timing Protocol: Enables timing so that the composure of the voice signals (high and low pulses that make up the voice pattern) being sent is the same relative composure of the voice signals received. Unnecessary delay or not enough time allowance causes variation and possibly distortion.

NIU (Network Interface Unit): The final piece of hardware installed on a local loop for which the carrier is responsible. All cabling beyond the NIU is the responsibility of the building owner.

NPA (Numbering Plan Area): Numbering plan area. Usually corresponds to the area code in the traditional POTS-PSTN telephone numbering system.

NTP: Network timing protocol. Enables timing so that the composure of the voice signals (high and low pulses that make up the voice pattern) being sent is the same relative composure of the voice signals received. Unnecessary delay or not enough time allowance causes variation and possibly distortion.

NXX (Number Exchange): The second set of three digits of a phone number after the area code prefix in the traditional POTS-PSTN telephone numbering system.

OCN (Operating Company Number): An identification number that links a phone number to the local telecommunications carrier which provides service to it.

OC12: An OC CSI transport that provides 622 Mbps of digital bandwidth.

OC3: An OC CSI transport that provides 155 Mbps of digital bandwidth.

Off-Net: In VoIP telephony, refers to calls that must be carried on another network (usually the PSTN) external to the VoIP network.

On-Net: In VoIP telephony, refers to calls carried on the customer’s network.

Optical Carrier Network: One of the five CSIs, the OC network is implemented through the use of fiber-optic cabling and extremely high bandwidth data transfers.

Outlying Areas: The calling area outside the continental United States and Canada that does not require an international 011 prefix to call such as U S Virgin Islands, Guam and the Caribbean.

Overhead: This is the section of bandwidth used for a call set-up and tear-down; where everything that is not the voice portion of the transmitted call.

Packet: On the WAN side of the network, bit-signal traffic is encapsulated and transported inside packets. A packet can be best visualized as an electronic envelope for transmitting data.

Packet-Switched: Packet-switched networks such as a VoIP network use the addressing information contained in the packet to determine the route the packet takes to its destination.

Pattern Matching: A type of logic used to identify similar strings of data; typically used to match up phone numbers dialed on outbound calls to an LCR table or can also be used to route incoming calls.

Permissive Dialing Pattern: The duration of time spanning from three to six months whereby you can dial a phone number that has been changed to a new area code without getting an intercept recording.

Physical Layer: In the TCP/IP networking model, the physical layer is where all packets are converted to electro or electro-optical signals to be carried over the local or external network.

PIC (Primary Interexchange Carrier): The long-distance carrier assigned to a phone number within the CO of the local carrier providing service to the number.

PIC Freeze: A logistical security device that many users have on their phone lines to prevent their long-distance carrier assigned to a phone number from being changed without their consent.

PDD (Post-Dial-Delay): The five to thirty-five second period of silence you hear after you finish dialing a phone number and before you hear the ringing from the far end of the call.

PBX (Private Branch Exchange): A telephone system used by larger companies to manage POTS-PSTN telephony services and calling features.

PM’s (Performance Monitors): Passive diagnostic report available on most dedicated circuits throughout a carrier network used to record anomalies such as erred seconds, unavailable seconds and frame slips.

PIC (Primary Interexchange Carrier): The long-distance carrier assigned to a phone number within the CO of the local carrier providing service to the number.

Port Out Notification: A notice that should be sent out and received whenever a phone number is migrated away from one local carrier to another.

POP (Point of Presence): A brick-and-mortar facility where a CLEC has established an operating presence in the local carrier exchange marketplace. Long distance Class 4 switch location where services can be received from the carrier and into which circuits to them can be connected.

POTS Line: The physical line that supports plain old telephone service (POTS).

POTS Telephone: The telephone that supports plain old telephone service (POTS).

Presence: One of the network features available with VoIP telephony services through a light indicator or software icon. If the presence light is on, the person is available on the network.

PRI (Primary Rate Interface):.An ISDN transport line providing 23 B channels and one 64-Kbps D channel. The PRI has gained renewed popularity with the advent of VoIP networks that use gateways with PRI’s to support off-net calls to the PSTN.

PSP (Payphone Service Provider): A company that owns a payphone and to which the federally mandated payphone surcharge must be paid for calls originating from its payphones to toll-free numbers.

PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network): The oldest and largest communications network in the world.

PSTN Baseline: Because of its history and high quality of service, VoIP technology uses the PSTN as a baseline for developing and designing telephony networks based on VoIP.

PSTN Gateway: A gateway is a network device used to provide access between different types of networks. For instance, a gateway may provide access into an external network such as the PSTN, the Internet, or a private WAN. A PSTN gateway has a LAN interface on the inside and a PRI access transport line on the outside. It translates IP telephony frames from the LAN into circuit-switched POTS traffic for the PSTN and vice versa.

QOS (Quality of Service): A LAN design whereby applications, users and data flows are prioritized through resource reservation control mechanisms to maintain bit rate and reduce delay, jitter and packet loss.

RBOC (Regional Bell Operating Company): The local providers of telecommunications services initially assigned to provide service to specified geographic areas by the federal government in 1984. Original seven were Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Southwestern Bell and US West.

RFO (Reason for Outage): A justification or explanation of the events leading up to, during and after a service impacting outage.

Regional Toll: One of four traditional regulated toll carrier service categories, also known as intralata toll or local toll. Refers to calls in which the caller and receiver are in the same local access and transport area (LATA).

Regulatory Fees: Add-on charges to telephone bills using POTS-PSTN access lines. Whether you use the services or not, having the POTS access line is sufficient for being charged most regulatory fees.

Router: A network device that connects the LAN to one or more external networks. The router translates frame traffic on the LAN into packetized traffic for the WAN or the Internet.

RTCP (Real-time transport control protocol):. Operates at the application layer of the TCP/IP model to monitor voice signal delivery and provide minimal control functions to ensure delivery of packets.

RTN (Ring to Number): The phone number acting as the recipient of calls to a toll-free number.

RTP: Real-time transport protocol Operates at the application layer of the TCP/IP model to provide end-to-end network transport functions for digital voice signals encapsulated in the VoIP packet.

Scalability: An attribute of networks that allows them to increase capacity without the need to change basic network characteristics.

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol): Protocol in the TCP/IP family of protocols. SIP uses text formatting to set up and maintain communication sessions with various endpoints. These endpoints can include cell phones, desk phones, PC clients, and PDAs. SIP permits these various endpoints to operate as a single system.

SS7 Signaling System: A trunking protocol used in the PSTN to control POTS telephone calls including channel setup, session maintenance, and call tear down.

Soft phone: Software that enables a computer to function as a VoIP telephone, including an on-screen dialing pad for point-and-click dialing.

Splitter: A device that terminates the cable from the cable company and divides the signal carried over that cable into component services, such a scalable television, Internet access, VoIP telephony, and POTS telephony. POTS telephone calls including channel setup, session maintenance, and call tear down.

Symmetric transmission: When the upstream and downstream transmission rates on a broadband connection are the same.

T1: The standard for 24 DS0 channels having an aggregate bandwidth of 1.536 Mbps. A T1 line is also commonly known as a DS1 line.

T3: The standard for 672 DS0 channels having an aggregate bandwidth of 45 Mbps. A T3 line is also known as a DS3 line.

TCP: Transmission control protocol. One of two major protocols used in the TCP/IP family of protocols. In VoIP telephony and videoconferencing calls, the TCP protocol is replaced by its sister protocol, UDP.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol): The family of interoperable protocols consisting of more than one-hundred-twenty protocols, each of which performs one or more services to support various network applications. The early developers of the Internet agreed upon the name TCP/IP because, at the time, TCP and IP were considered the two most important protocols for any network connection.

Telecommunications Act of 1996: Extensive legislation that marked a turning point in the efforts to promote competition in the former local and long-distance carrier services marketplace.

Toll Bypass: Term that concisely describes how VoIP telephony service completely sidesteps the regulated circuit-switched PSTN associated toll usage charges by carrying calls over private, packet-switched networks.

Toll Charges: Recurring, metered, per-minute charges assessed on any POTSPSTN call that terminates in any of the four toll service category zones.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): One of two major protocols used in the TCP/IP family of protocols. In VoIP telephony and videoconferencing calls, the TCP protocol is replaced by its sister protocol, UDP.

UDP: An encoding protocol implemented at the transport layer of VoIP telephony and videoconferencing calls. A leaner version of TCP used to transmit SIP packets with less overhead.

URL (Universal Resource Locator): A string of characters used to identify a stationary resource on the Internet such as www.ati1.com.

VLAN: A virtual LAN that acts like a physically separate network, despite the fact that it is riding on the exact same switches as your primary network.

V-email: A network feature supported with VoIP telephony in which the user can elect to hear their e-mail or print a hardcopy of their voice mail.

Voice mail: Popular calling feature allowing callers to leave a message in the event the called party can’t answer.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol): Voice over Internet protocol. A network service that supports carrying telephone calls over packetized networks. VoIP reduces substantially or eliminates the need for a separate, circuit-switched telephone network to carry telephone calls.

VoIP Adapter Box: In broadband services, an adapter box is provided by the carrier to enable VoIP customers to plug in a VoIP telephone or to continue to use their existing POTS telephones, if desired.

VoIP Centrex: A managed VoIP telephony service similar in concept to the traditional Centrex model.

VPN (Virtual Private Network): A network that interconnects multiple local area networks (LANs) by using the Internet as a WAN transport or backbone.

W, X, Y & Z

WAN (Wide Area Network): A larger network that connects two or more LANs using dedicated transport lines.

WAP (Wireless Access Point): A device that enables network devices with wireless interface cards to connect to the network. Wireless users must be within the specified distance range limits.

WEC (Wireless Extension to Cellular): A technology that permits a user to have their desk phone ring on their cellular telephone and not be charged as a cellular call. Essentially, the company’s network is used to forward the call as if the cell phone were another station on the network.

White Noise: Soft static or white noise that you hear during a call when nobody is speaking.

Wi Fi (Wireless Fidelity): Wireless networking as specified in the IEEE 802.11 series of standards.

Wi Max: Worldwide interoperability for microwave access. Wireless networking as defined in the IEEE 802.16 standard. Wi Max is demonstrating speeds in excess of 70 Mbps (more than six times the maximum speed of Wi Fi) over much greater distances (up to 30 miles).

Wire Shark: Industry leading network protocol analyzer; free software that should be deployed on every VoIP server in the world.